Глава VII

The rumor about the arrival of Emperor Valens in Caesarea to depose St. Vasily. The reasons that forced the Caesarea flock to believe in the truth of this rumor. The method of action of the Arians and the Arian king, which they used in the deposition of Orthodox Bishops, and the conversion of their flocks to Arianism. The measures taken by St. Vasily to reflect the Arians and their patron - the king. Arrival in Caesarea of ​​Modest - the first courtier with authority - or to persuade St. Vasily to accept Arianism, with convictions and promises, or - to be exiled to prison, having previously been subjected to various tortures. Conversation of St. Basil with Modest, in which St. Vasily, with his courage and fearlessness, managed to inspire respect for himself and his enemy. The arrival of the Emperor himself in Caesarea, and his desire to personally speak with St. Vasily. The Emperor's arrival at the church where St. Vasily, and his defeat by the splendor of the service. Conversation between the king and St. Vasily, and as a result of this, the king’s favor towards him. Again an attempt to exile St. Basil, due to the insistence of the Arians. The sudden illness of the king's son and his healing through the prayers of St. Basil. Modest's dangerous illness, and his healing through the prayers of St. Vasily. Both the Tsar and Modest always had a favorable attitude towards him. Clash of St. Vasily with the regional chief - relatives of the Empress, who forced one noble widow to marry a subordinate official. Fearlessness of St. Vasily and the people’s love for him, expressed on this occasion. The division of the Caesarea region in civil terms into two parts, followed by its subsequent division in church terms. Sorrow of St. Basil, inflicted on him by the Bishop of Tian, ​​who intended to separate from St. Basil and form a separate archdiocese. Deep humility of St. Vasily and his love for the world, especially expressed on this occasion. Almshouse built by St. Vasily, in which many lepers and those suffering from other diseases found shelter, in which no one had previously wanted to take any part. Establishment of hospitals in other places of the Caesarea diocese under the control of chorebishops. The insufficiency of the zeal of rich people in maintaining these beneficent institutions. Pronunciation of St. Vasily had three conversations, especially strong in animation and persuasiveness, in which he revealed both the abuses of rich people with their wealth and the crime of their indifference to the sick and poor. The content of these conversations. St. Basil, refusing to refute the too obvious slander of malicious people who, under the guise of zeal for the Orthodox truth, only caused grave harm to it, was preparing to prove in fact the correctness of his faith and unshakable devotion to the faith of the fathers. The opportunity for this was not slow to present itself. Valens, who six years before had an unsuccessful attempt to introduce the Cappadic heresy of Arius into Caesarea, on the occasion of his campaign in Syria, decided to certainly fulfill his intention. The courageous Archpastor of the Caesarea Church, who devoted his entire life to serving God and His holy Church, could not fear any threats from enemies. Believing the words of the Lord that even the gates of hell would not prevail against her, he was convinced that the triumph of the enemies of the Church would not last long and the power of God would soon defeat them. But his flock, with all the shepherds subordinate to him, had reason to fear the approach of the wicked Emperor. It was already known that from all almost the surrounding Churches, both large and small, Orthodox bishops were expelled and exiled, and their place was taken by Arian bishops; many of the lower members of the Orthodox flock were subjected to various kinds of torture, and were often deprived of their lives or burned. But since violent measures on the part of the Arians, giving them an external advantage, did not subjugate the minds of their false teachings, but were often accompanied by unrest and open rebellion of the people, the Arians and all the rulers who patronized their wickedness first used persuasion and flattering promises. With this in mind, St. Vasily tried in different cities to appoint as bishops people worthy in life and capable of waging theological struggle with heretics, so that they could protect their Orthodox flock from the seduction of the imaginary solidity of heretical teaching. For this purpose, St. Basil, having in mind the imminent arrival of Emperor Valens in Caesarea, invited his friend, St. Gregory, who at that time was already elevated to the rank of presbyter. The consecration of Gregory, Vasiliev’s brother, to the rank of Bishop also dates back to this time. And before St. Vasily invited his brother to participate in the labors of episcopal service. At the beginning of his accession to the episcopal throne, he among other things wrote to him: “you, as a brother... should now take care of something else; because I have entered into a life that, exceeding my strength, crushes the body and burdens the soul... for this reason, you should now come to me and share things with me: for it is said: let the brethren be helpful in need (Proverbs 14:17). Now, out of attention to the needs of the church, he installed him against his own will in agreement with the other Bishops, the Bishop of the city of Nissa in the Cappadocian region, located ten miles from Caesarea, an insignificant city, but which became famous only because it had such a remarkable Bishop, which was St. Gregory of Nyssa 186. First, St. Vasily instructed his brother in the issues of dispute between heretics and Orthodox Christians, 187 but now he wanted to see him as a supporter of Orthodoxy against heretics. And that St. Gregory of Nyssa could have been his assistant in this matter; this is proven by the extensive works he wrote on various dogmatic subjects, testifying to both his deep knowledge of St. Scripture and the teachings of the preceding saints. Fathers. Saint Gregory the Theologian was a little delayed in his arrival in Caesarea, because he heard that Emperor Valens had the intention of coming first to Nazianza in order to force this city, together with the Bishop, to accept the heretical teaching of the Arians, and then go to Caesarea. For this purpose, the evil king used flattery, persuasion, threats and violence itself. To protect the purity of the Orthodox faith and to repel all the intricate objections of the heretics, led by the Emperor, St. Gregory found it necessary to stay for a while in Nazianza. And his stay in Nazianza did not remain useless. Praising the courage of his father, says St. Gregory, “he zealously rebelled against the heretics, when, having taken up arms against us together with the wicked king and having enslaved almost everyone, they thought to seduce us and join us with others. And here he provided us with considerable help, both himself and perhaps through me, whom he, like a young dog of a good breed, took out against these fierce beasts for exercise in piety” 188 . But as soon as Valens left Nazianza, St. Grigory hastened to help his friend Vasily. Following him, Valens arrived in Caesarea with a large retinue, accompanied by Arian bishops, in the full hope of soon defeating and subjugating St. Basil, and with him all the bishops who were in the Cappadocia region, were persuaded to accept the Arian teaching. “He came to us again,” says St. Gregory, a Christ-fighting king and oppressor of the faith, and as he had to deal with the strongest enemy, he came with greater wickedness and with a militia inflamed more than before, imitating that unclean and evil spirit that, having left a person and wandered, returns to him, so that, as it is said in the Gospel (Luke 11, 24-26), he will move in with a large number of spirits. It is his disciple that the king becomes, so that together he can atone for his first defeat and add something to his previous tricks” 189. But when the king, bypassing other parties, rushed with the intention of enslaving this unshakable and invulnerable Mother of the Churches, this only remaining life-giving spark of truth, then for the first time he felt the futility of his plan; for he was reflected like an arrow striking a stronghold and rebounded like a torn rope. This is how he met the Primate of the Church! And having been struck by the cliff, he was crushed” 190. Indeed, St. Basil, supported by St. Gregory, expressed such fearlessness, such greatness and strength of spirit that nothing could either frighten him or shake his faith. Prefect Modest, a cruel, power-hungry man, filled with hatred of the Orthodox and ready for any crime to fulfill the will of the king, with the sole purpose of retaining power through his criminal servility, arrived in Caesarea a little earlier than Valens with authority from the king or to convince St. Vasily to accept the Arian teachings or be forced, in case of his resistance - sent to prison. “To this ruler,” says St. Gregory, who gnashed his teeth against the Church, took on the image of a lion, roared like a lion and was unapproachable for many, is introduced, or better yet, the valiant Basil himself enters, as if called to a festival, and not to a trial. How can I recount in a dignified manner either the ruler’s insolence or Vasily’s prudent resistance to him! “Why do you,” said the prefect (calling Vasily by name, for he did not deign to call him Bishop), want to boldly resist such power and be the only one of all to remain stubborn? – The valiant husband objected: what and what is my arrogance? I can’t understand this. “The reason,” says the first, is that you do not adhere to the same faith with the king, when all the others bowed down and yielded. This is not what my king demands, answers Vasily: I cannot bow to the creature, being myself a creature of God and having the command to be a god. - But what do you think we are? asked the ruler. Or do we mean nothing when we command this? Why is it not important for you to join us and be in fellowship with us? “You are rulers,” answered Vasily, “and I don’t deny that they are famous rulers, but they are not higher than God.” And it is important for me to be in communication with you (why not? and you are God’s creature); however, it is no more important than being in communication with everyone else under your control; because Christianity is determined not by the external dignity of persons, but by faith. “Then the ruler became agitated, became more angry, got up from his seat and began to speak to Vasily more sternly than before. Well, he said, aren’t you afraid of power? - No, no matter what happens and I will not tolerate anything. – Even at least suffered one of the many things that is in my will? - What is it? explain it to me. – Confiscation of property, exile, torture, death. “If you can, threaten others, but that doesn’t bother us at all.” - How is this and why? asked the ruler. “Because,” answers Vasily, “it is not subject to the description of property who has nothing; Will you really demand from me this piece of hair and the few books that contain all my belongings? I don’t know about exile, because I’m not connected to any place; and the place in which I live now is not mine, and everything wherever they throw me will be mine. It’s better to say, everywhere is God’s place, wherever I may be a sojourner and a stranger (Ps. 38:13). And what kind of torture will they take, when I don’t even have a body, do you mean the first blow, in which you alone have power? Death is beneficial for me: it will sooner send me to God, for whom I live and work, for whom I have already died for the most part of myself and to whom I have been hastening for a long time. - The ruler, amazed by these words, said: no one has ever spoken before me with such freedom. “Perhaps,” answered Vasily, you have not met the Bishop: otherwise, undoubtedly dealing with a similar subject, you would have heard the same words. For in everything else, ruler, we are more modest and humble than anyone else - this is what the commandment commands us to do, and not only in front of such power, but even in front of anyone else, we do not raise our eyebrows; and when the matter is about God, and they dare to rebel against Him: then, despising everything, we mean God alone. Fire, sword, wild beasts and flesh-tearing claws will rather be a pleasure for us than cause horror. Beyond this, insult, threaten, do whatever you want, use your power. Let the king hear about this, that you will not subjugate us and force us to join in wickedness, no matter what horrors you threaten 191 . When St. Vasily finished everything, Modest, realizing to what extent his firmness was undaunted and irresistible, no longer with threats, but with some respect, began to persuade him with flattering words. “Do not consider it unimportant,” he told Vasily, “that the great Emperor wants to unite with your flock. Agree to be called his teacher and do not resist his will. He wants little, only for the word: Consubstantial to be excluded from the Symbol. “Of course,” answered Vasily, the Emperor’s desire to enter into communion with the Church is a very important matter, for the salvation of the soul is important; but I cannot agree to allow even one word to be excluded from the Symbol, or to add anything to it, or even to change the order in it 192 . - After this, releasing Vasily, Modest advised him to think about the offer again. But Vasily answered: I am the same today and tomorrow 193. Having released St. Basil, Modest, agitated by various feelings and a heavy sense of humiliated pride and a sense of surprise at the high virtues of the Christian shepherd, appeared before the Emperor, who had already arrived in Caesarea, and with complete frankness expressed to him the result of the first attempt on St. Vasily. “We are defeated, king,” said the courtier, who had hitherto not known any barriers to his unbridled will, “by the abbot of this Church: this is a man who is higher than threats, firmer than arguments, stronger than convictions. It is necessary to subject others, not so much courageous, to temptation, but he must either be forced by open force or not be expected to yield to threats 194.” Such words of the highest dignitary, expressing praise to Saint Basil as a Christian shepherd (and the enemy marvels at the valor of the enemy) disarmed Valens and he even regretted that he had entered into a fight with him. But just as iron, although it softens in fire, everything remains iron and returns to its strength and roughness when it comes out of the fire, so Valens, although he was at first struck by the excellent virtues of St. Vasily, however, did not want to enter into communication with him, guided by the false shame of appearing defeated. The proud and arrogant courtiers, wanting to reassure their embarrassed master, asked him for permission to enter into a theological dispute with Vasily about objects of faith, hoping to disgrace him in this field, and, if possible, to tear away his admirers from him. And in this matter, they pinned their hopes on Demosthenes, the chief royal cook, who, through his vainglorious talkativeness before ignorant courtiers about matters of faith, managed to gain the authority of a learned theologian. A day was appointed for the debate, on which, in the presence of many courtiers and Modestus himself, this vain Demosthenes began to make objections to the Orthodox faith. St. Basil, having calmly listened to him, in short words overthrew all his objections, so that the courtiers themselves could not help but see the inconsistency of their imaginary sage. But the defeat suffered by Demosthenes only aroused his wounded pride even more. He got excited and, throwing out words without connection, finally made a gross mistake against grammar. St. Basil, grinning, said: finally we have Demosthenes, the illiterate. These words embittered him so much that he began to spew out various curses and threatened St. Kill Vasily with your chef's knife. But St. Vasily calmly answered him: your business is to judge food, and not about the Divine teaching, for which you have absolutely no sense or taste 195. Thus, the attempt of a powerful ruler to defeat the Archbishop of Caesarea was overthrown for the second time! It was hard and pitiful to see, says St. Gregory, “that the ruler of many nations, awarded great glory, who subjugated everyone around him to the power of wickedness, who overthrew all barriers, found himself defeated by a single man and a single city, became a laughing stock, as he himself noted, not only for the champions of atheism who led him, but also for all people” 196. The moral strength of St. The archpastor, who showed herself so tangibly, awakened in Valens a desire to talk with him personally and for this he looked for an opportunity. And the opportunity for this soon presented itself. The feast of the Epiphany of the Lord arrived (in 372). Since there were no Arian churches in Caesarea, the Emperor with all his retinue went to listen to the liturgy in the Orthodox church, where St. Vasily. “When he entered the church and his ears were struck like thunder by the psalmody that began (since all the people participated in the psalmody); when he saw a sea of ​​people, and in the altar and near it there was not so much human, but angelic splendor, and in front of everyone in an upright position stood Basil, as Samuel is described in the word of God (1 Sam. 7, 10), not bowed either in body, or in sight, or in thought (as if nothing new had happened in the church), but nailed (I will say this) to God and the throne, and those around him stood in some kind of fear and reverence; When I say, the king saw all this and did not find an example to which he could apply what was visible, then he fell into exhaustion, like a man, and his eyes and soul are covered in darkness from amazement and become dizzy. But this was not yet noticeable to many. When the king needed to bring gifts to the divine meal, prepared with his own hands and, according to custom, no one touched them (it was unknown whether Vasily would accept them), then his weakness was revealed. He is unsteady on his feet, and if one of the altar servants had not offered his hand and supported him, he might have fallen.” 197 But at this time the king could not speak with the Saint. Believing that his embarrassment had not been noticed, the tsar decided to come to church another time in order to show his readiness to enter into communication with Orthodox Christians, and even more so in order to personally talk with Saint Basil, which he had long desired. At this time St. Vasily was in the altar itself, which was separated from other parts of the church by curtains. It was here that the king entered with the officials accompanying him, where St. Gregory along with other persons. Saint Basil speaks to the Tsar with such animation that, says Saint. Gregory, - we heard then not human, but God’s verbs. And the words of St. Vasily had such an effect on the Emperor that he decided to stop the persecution of the Orthodox Church and was ready to give freedom of worship to all Orthodox Christians. But just as God allowed Pharaoh to harden his heart against the Israelites, despite the special signs of God’s protection over them, so the Lord allowed him to harden his heart against the Holy One. Basil and Valens, in order to declare to posterity by showing special patronage to him that the evil ones perish not from a lack of God’s care for their admonition, but from their own persistence in evil. Not even a few days had passed before Valens was amazed at the valor of the Orthodox Archpastor of the Church of Caesarea and listened with tenderness to his blessed word: but the court flatterers, breathing malice against Saint Basil, managed to awaken the royal pride again and convince him of the need to expel the saint. Vasily from the city, so that others, following his example, would not decide to resist the royal power and would not return from the wickedness to which they had already been conquered, to true piety. To the great consolation of the Arian bishops and all the wicked courtiers, the king accepted their evil advice and the paper on the expulsion and imprisonment of the Saint of Christ was signed. To only avoid popular indignation, the sentence must be carried out at night, before the dawn of another day. The enemies triumphed, but all the Orthodox, and especially the friends of St. Vasily, were extremely despondent, since help could not be expected from anywhere. Night fell, the carriage was ready for departure, friends surrounded St. Basil, tremblingly awaiting the moment that would separate them, perhaps forever, from the lamp of Orthodoxy not only for Caesarea, but for the entire Eastern Church. St. Basil, having ordered the servant to take only a notebook, calmly awaited the command to move on the thorny path that was to lead him to eternal glory in heaven. Realizing well that the only real evil on earth should be considered sin, which deprives us of communication with God - the source of all bliss, he tried to calm his sad friends with the idea that external suffering should not be considered a misfortune in life, but a manifestation of the special grace of God, according to which the Lord presents His faithful disciples in suffering only as an opportunity to declare to Him their unfailing love and devotion. But his mourning friends, knowing his unshakable devotion to Divine Providence and his constant readiness to sacrifice his life for the glory of God and the good of the Church, just as he had already sacrificed his health and tranquility, were more concerned about the future fate of the Church, of which St. Vasily. But St. For Vasily, to dispel the anxious fears of those who complained, it was enough to point out that the head of the church is Christ Himself, the life-giving source of saving grace, and that He can never lack the external instruments of His care for the Church. If the Lord wants to preserve him for the mourning Church, then He is able to do this too, and like Isaac returned to Abraham from the altar, keep him in the place of his former service. But then a messenger from the Tsar appeared, however, he was an Orthodox Christian and had a sincere affection for Vasily in his soul. The hearts of Vasily’s lamenting friends calmed down a little. If the king’s decree was not cancelled, they thought, then at least it would be carried out without any particular cruelty. But the messenger announced to St. Vasily received something that no one could have expected, which, although it was in accordance with the faith of the Saint. Everyone heard that the six-year-old son of the king, Galat, suddenly fell ill at nightfall. The doctors to whom they turned for help recognized the patient’s condition as hopeless. They asked for the prayers of the Arian bishops, but their prayers also turned out to be powerless. The king and queen are in despair. But since the queen saw a dream in which it was explained to her that the boy’s illness was due to the insult inflicted on the Caesarea Saint, therefore she expressed the desire that the saint. Vasily came to the king and prayed for the boy’s healing. St. Basil hastily went to the heretic king to show him that the true disciples of Christ do not remember evil, but following the example of the Heavenly Father, whose sun shines on good and evil, they are ready to do good to everyone who needs it. With the first appearance of St. Vasily in the palace, the youth felt some relief. This encouraged the king’s hope and strengthened his faith in the prayers of the Orthodox Saint. But St. Vasily promised the tsar the complete recovery of the boy only if he gave him baptism to an Orthodox priest and raised him in the Orthodox faith. Since Valens had only one son, he agreed without hesitation to all the conditions, as long as his son was alive. A miraculous prayer was offered to God the Giver of Life by Saint Basil and the youth recovered. The king, filled with joy, as a reward to St. Vasily gave significant funds to support the hospital, the foundation of which had already been laid by the patronage of the poor by the Saint 198. But Valens did not keep his promise, he gave his son to be baptized by the Arian bishop, and the son soon died. Soon after this, says St. Gregory, “the same thing happened with the regional commander (Modestus), who had recently threatened St. Vasily by torture and death itself. The illness that befell him bends him under the hand of the saint. For the prudent, punishment really is a lesson; for them, suffering is often better than prosperity. The ruler suffered, cried, complained, sent to Vasily, begged him, cried out to him: you are satisfied, give me salvation! And he received what he asked for, as he himself admitted and assured many who did not know about it, because he never ceased to be amazed at the Vasilievs’ deeds and retell them about them” 199. “From that time on, the prefect had deep respect for St. Basil and St. Vasily, taking advantage of his favor and with his assistance, did good to many. So he asked Modest to exempt the clergy from taxes, which, according to the new legislation, were supposed to be collected from them.” Those consecrated to our God, presbyters and deacons, wrote St. Vasily Modesto, - the old census did not impose taxes. But those who are carrying out the census now, because they did not receive orders from your high authority, and they were included in the census, with the exception of perhaps a few, who, by their very years, have the right to be released. Therefore, we ask you to leave us this monument of your good deed, so that for all future times we will preserve a good memory of you and, according to the ancient law of taxation, give us clergymen... This will also preserve the immortal glory of your high birth for good deeds and prepare many prayer books for the royal house... 200. Having received what he asked for for the clergy, he asked him for a similar mercy for the inhabitants of Mount Tovra 201. He also asked him for leniency towards one of his friends, who, due to the slander of ill-intentioned people, was faced with the need to appear before him for trial. He also interceded with him on behalf of many other persons 202. At the first explanation with Modest, St. Vasily told him that he was ready to humble himself and bow his head before anyone who did not rebel against the God he revered. This is partly confirmed by the letters cited, in which St. Vasily, in respectful expressions, expresses his submission to him, as one invested with legitimate authority. But when it was necessary to defend the innocent oppressed and persecuted by high-ranking persons, then he fully demonstrated his greatness and fearlessness of spirit and was not afraid to show the high-ranking persons the baseness of their actions. There was a noble widow in the city who had recently lost her husband. She possessed amazing beauty and a beautiful soul and therefore no longer wanted to belong to anyone, but decided to devote herself to serving God in some monastery of nuns. But the comrade of the governor of the Pontic region, stung by his passion for her, relentlessly pursued her and made every effort to at least forcibly force her to marry him. But she, not finding protection from his persecution in anyone, resorted to the patronage of the holy and courageous Archbishop of Caesarea. St. Basil took part in it, gave his word to protect her from all persecutors and at the same time secretly escorted her to the monastery of his sister Macrina. A passionate admirer of other people's beauty turned to the governor for help. The viceroy, proud of his relationship with the Imperial House, since he was the uncle of the Empress, promised to fulfill his wish. And after this he sent to St. Vasily demanding that he immediately hand over the famous woman. But the holy Pleasant of God refused to fulfill the desire of the saint and slave of low passions. The proud ruler of the region, accustomed to meeting flattering servility from everyone, the refusal of St. Vasily considered it the greatest insult for himself and therefore decided to take revenge on the Saint. And in order to disgrace him before the people and show that he was protecting a young woman, not like a good shepherd of a sheep pursued by a predatory wolf, but as a slave of his own passion, he ordered the officials under his command to search the Archbishop’s bedroom. But his revenge did not end there. The governor demanded St. Vasily to his court. “Look,” says St. Gregory, - for a new struggle between the ascetic and the persecutor. One ordered Vasily to take off his outer rags. Another says: if you want, I will take off my tunic in front of you. One threatened to beat the incorporeal, the other was already bowing his neck. One threatened to whittle with his claws, the other replied: you will do me a favor with such torment, you will heal my liver, which, as you see, worries me a lot. So they bickered among themselves. But the city, as soon as it learned about the misfortune and the danger common to all (everyone considered such an insult to be a danger to themselves), the whole city becomes agitated and ignites; like a swarm of bees, alarmed by smoke, all classes, all ages are excited by each other and come into confusion, and most of all the gunsmiths and royal weavers, who in similar circumstances, but because of the freedom they enjoy, are more irritable and act more boldly. Everything became a weapon for everyone, whether something happened at hand in the craft or something else came across: flamers in their hands, some with raised stones, some with raised sticks; everyone has one direction, one voice and a common jealousy. Wrath is a terrible warrior and military leader. With such an ignition of minds, women did not remain unarmed (they used weaving reeds instead of spears), and those animated by jealousy ceased to be women; on the contrary, arrogance turned them into men. To put it briefly: they thought that by tearing the ruler apart, they would divide piety among themselves. And he was more pious among them who would be the first to lay hands on the one who intended such insolence against Vasily. What about a strict and impudent judge? “He became a pitiful, poor, most humble petitioner: but this martyr appeared without blood, a crown bearer without wounds, and by force restraining the people, curbed by respect, saved his petitioner and insulter” 203. “From now on,” says St. Gregory, - the warfare from the world stopped and received a righteous end from God, worthy of Vasily’s faith” 204. But the sorrows of St. Vasily did not stop; so as St. Basil with St. Gregory were closely connected with each other by mutual love, like soul and body, then the sorrow again experienced by St. Vasily, had an equally painful effect on St. Gregory. The reason for this sorrow was the command to divide the Caesarea region in civil administration into two parts. Caesarea remained the main city of one half of the Caesarea region, and the city of Tiana was appointed the main city of the second half. This new order was a great disaster for the city of Caesarea itself. Higher government institutions and educational institutions were transferred to another city; with this, the city, of necessity, had to gradually plunge into the darkness of ignorance, the unrest in the city increased, the city became poorer, street lighting at night ceased, as a result of which not only the well-being of the inhabitants, but also their very lives were endangered by evil people who took advantage of the lack of light and vigilant supervision of the authorities. The residents became despondent and, unable to find the strength to avert the disaster that befell them, resorted to their trustee Archbishop for help. He actually took an active part in their grief and wrote to his influential friends, 205 but his petition had little success. The first order was changed only in that instead of the city of Podanda, which was located in an area unfavorable for health, the city of Tiana was appointed the main city of the second half of the Cappadocia region. But this new order brought St. Vasily suffered even more sorrow and inconvenience in church terms. The power-hungry bishop of the city of Tiana, Anoimus, taking advantage of the civil division of the Caesarea region, intended to separate from Saint Basil and form a separate archbishopric. For this purpose, he began to attract provincial bishops to his side, which was not difficult for him to achieve. Many bishops harbored a feeling of dislike towards Saint Basil, partly because he was elected against the wishes of many of them, partly due to a lack of sympathy for his strictly Orthodox spirit, and partly out of envy of his personal high virtues, in which he was so much superior to them that they seemed to stand in the shadow. As a result of this, disorder and unrest occurred in the Church and the peace of the Church was disrupted. St. Basil, protecting the rights and interests of his archdiocese, continued to make efforts to preserve his Church intact. But Anoim’s lust for power extended to the point that he forcibly began to tear away various income items from the Caesarea Church; those chorebishops who remained faithful to Saint Basil were overthrown and replaced by other persons devoted to him; He took away some of the churches by armed force. Finding this state of affairs harmful to the good of the Church, St. Vasily decided to abandon the other half of the Cappadocia region and turn all his attention to the churches that remained at his disposal. In order to enhance the internal well-being of his flock, and at the same time, as much as possible, to protect the dignity of his archbishopric, he found it necessary to install new bishops in most of the cities remaining in the Caesarea region proper, so that now he had up to fifty chorebishops subordinate to him. On the border of the Archdiocese of Caesarea and the newly formed Archdiocese of Tiana was the insignificant town of Sashima. St. Basil recognized his friend St. Gregory capable and worthy to be the ruler of even the universal Church. But since this is impossible, St. Basil first wanted to make him bishop of the insignificant town of Sashima, so that he would not himself borrow respect from the place he occupied, but would give respect to the insignificant place with his personal dignity. For in the true sense, he is great who is not only sufficient for great things, but with his strength makes even small things great 206. St. Gregory, preferring the share of a humble monk, at first did not dare to accept the high title of bishop, but then, to express submission to the will of his Archbishop and the desire of his elderly parent, he bowed under their holy hands. But he, however, did not even happen to be in Sasima once, since Anoimus opposed his entry into the city with armed force; and therefore he ruled the Nazianian Church both during his father’s life and after his death, until he was called by Divine Providence to the highest service of the Church of Constantinople. How the soul of Saint Basil thirsted for church peace and what depth of humility he possessed, this is shown by his letter to the advisory assembly in Tiana, which he left to resolve the dispute between him and Anonymous regarding the distribution of the boundaries of the two archdioceses - Caesarea and Tiana. “The Lord, who reveals the depths and declares the counsels of the heart (1 Cor. 4-5), also gave to the humble an understanding of tricks, as others think, difficult to understand. Therefore, nothing is secret for me and nothing that is done is hidden. But however, I don’t see or hear anything else except one thing - the world of God and what leads to it. Although others are strong, and great, and confident in themselves, I don’t mean anything, I’m not worth anything, which is why I will never take upon myself so much as to consider myself to have enough strength alone and to overcome the difficulty of things on my own, but I firmly know that I have much more need for the help of each of the brethren than how much one hand needs the help of the other, because by the very structure of our body the Lord taught us the need for communication. For when I examine these very members of mine and see that not a single one is sufficient in itself for action, then can I think that I in myself am sufficient for carrying out the affairs of life? The leg would not walk firmly if the other leg did not support the body along with it; the eye would not see correctly if it did not have another as an accomplice and did not, in accordance with it, direct itself to visible objects. Or rather hearing, which receives sounds in both ways; You grasp a thing more tightly with the mutual communication of your fingers. And in one word - I do not see that any natural and free action is performed without the unanimity of those who belong to the same genus; because prayer itself, when there is no agreement among those praying, is much more powerless than itself, and the Lord promised to be among two or three calling on Him in unanimity. (Matthew 18:20). But the Lord also took upon himself the economy itself in order to pacify the blood of His cross, whether on earth or in heaven (Col. 1:20). And for all this I wish to remain in peace for the rest of my days; I ask that my dormition be in peace. Therefore, for the sake of peace, I decided not to avoid any kind of work, not to refuse to say or do anything humiliating, not to take into account the distance of the journey, not to be afraid of any other worries, just to be worthy of the rewards promised to the peacemakers. If anyone follows my guidance in this, then this is best and constitutes the end of my desires. And if someone pulls in the opposite direction, then even in this case I will not deviate from my decision. But on the day of reward, everyone will know for himself the fruits of his work” 207. Caring for the poor, caring for the helpless and the sick was the subject of St.'s concern. Vasily even before his presbytery. But when he was elevated to the degree of Archbishop, having arranged as peaceful a relationship as possible with external authorities and with bishops, he directed his primary attention to establishing a strong and peaceful shelter for the sick and homeless poor, as well as a hospice for strangers. Those stricken with leprosy were especially inclined to set up such a shelter; not only strangers, but also their closest relatives refused to communicate with them. This vast building was built on the outskirts of the city of Caesarea. A magnificent church was built here, premises for the Archbishop, for the temporary residence of the highest civil commanders visiting Caesarea. The hospital had special departments for different patients, for doctors, for those who took care of the patients. The almshouse also had various and comfortable rooms for many homeless beggars and crippled people. Since everyone living in these charitable institutions required clothing, a variety of food and much more necessary for such a vast economy, their own various workshops and craft establishments were set up to satisfy all these needs. Taken together, these buildings were so extensive that they seemed like another vast and magnificently decorated city. And these charitable institutions of St. Vasily not only brought physical peace to those who needed it and did not find peace outside these buildings, but also spiritual benefit. The sick were instilled with patience with bodily suffering for the sake of the Lord, without whose will nothing happens in our lives; in those who enjoyed bodily repose, they tried to awaken a feeling of gratitude to God for His merciful care for them. Those who cared to earn themselves bliss in heaven through works of mercy were presented with an opportunity to achieve this goal either by making feasible offerings in favor of the sick and crippled from their property or by serving them. “Move a little away from the city, look at the new city,” says St. Gregory,” pointing to the hospice house built by St. Basil near Caesarea - to this repository of piety, to this common treasury of the excesses, into which, according to the admonitions of Basil, not only the excesses of the rich are brought, but even the last possessions, and here they do not allow prayers to reach them, nor do they please thieves, but they are saved from the attacks of envy and from the destructive time. Here illness is taught to be wise, misfortune is appeased, compassion is tested.” Having further mentioned various famous ancient buildings of the kings, which surprise the curious, he continues: “For me, much more surprising is this short path to salvation, this most convenient ascent to heaven. Now there is no longer before our eyes a heavy and pitiful sight; There are not people lying before us who have already died before death and have mortified most of their bodily members, driven from cities, from houses, from marketplaces, from waters, from the people most dear to them, recognized only by their names, and not by their bodily features. They are not placed by comrades and households at places of public meetings and gatherings, so that with their illness they arouse not so much pity as disgust, composing plaintive songs if anyone still has a voice... Vasily, first of all, convinced before everyone that we, as people, do not despise people, by inhumanity towards the suffering, do not dishonor Christ - the only Head of all, but through the misfortunes of others, improve our own salvation and having a need for mercy, our mercy lent to God. Therefore, this noble man, born of nobles and shining with glory, did not disdain to honor illness with the kiss of his lips, embraced the sick as brothers... in order to teach with his wisdom not to leave suffering bodies without services. It was both a prophetic and a silent exhortation” 208. But since, despite the extreme vastness of this building, it could not accommodate all the sick and disabled of the entire region, then, at the suggestion of St. Basil, almshouses were established by chorebishops in different places of his archdiocese 209. An institution founded by St. Vasily, for a long time and after his death it flourished and in memory of its founder it was called Vasiliada 210. When it was undertaken by St. Vasily established this charitable institution, then rich people willingly helped him in this with rich donations from themselves. But when the need was felt for the constant continuation of these donations into the future, so that the vast buildings erected would not remain fruitless for those for whom they were intended, then capitalists and people in general who had rich means of living, caring more about satisfying their whims and bad habits or, due to a false understanding of the importance of wealth for earthly life, placing excessive concern on increasing their capital, refused further donations, at least in such quantities as it was necessary to satisfy all the needs of the gathered sufferers. Therefore, to arouse in them a feeling of mercy for the poor brethren, a living and strong word was required. Saint Basil, realizing the power and persuasiveness of the eloquence of his friend, St. Gregory, invited him to his place with the goal, with his assistance, of winning over the rich in favor of the poor. And St. Gregory indeed did not hesitate to come to him and in the church located at the almshouse, he uttered a word: about love for the poor. In this word, in order to dispose his listeners to gain one of the main perfections of a Christian - love of poverty, he did not lose sight of anything that reason, conscience and the word of God can say in praise of charity. The God-inspired Psalmist says: turn away from evil and do good (Psalm 33:15). Guided by this order in creating a life pleasing to God, St. Vasily, in order to incline his flock to soul-saving charity for the sick and crippled, despised in his almshouse, found it necessary to first turn them away from bad habits and inclinations, which, while only bringing destruction to the soul, require, however, great costs to satisfy. Then he drew attention to the passion of enrichment, which, making those carried away by it senseless slaves of their passion with oblivion of the high purpose of their souls, leads their hearts to complete insensitivity and contemptuous inattention to the grave suffering of their unfortunate brothers in Christ. After Great Lent, during Holy Week, when it was especially necessary to show spiritual joy about the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and to bear fruits that should have shown that the Holy Pentecost had not been beneficial for souls, many, as if breaking free from their shackles, with a frantic desire indulged in drunkenness and the inevitably always associated debauchery. On the holiday of Bright Week, therefore, the churches of God were visited only by truly pious Christians and therefore St. Vasily remained silent so as not to offend their ears, without benefiting the guilty by presenting an ugly picture of the blinding of the minds of the intemperate and the corruption of their will. But when the festivities ended, he found it necessary to present to everyone the disgrace of those who feasted. At the beginning of his conversation: on those who get drunk, - St. Vasily says: “Yesterday’s spectacles encourage me to speak, but again my desire is held back, my zeal is dulled by the uselessness of previous labors. And the farmer, when his first seeds have not sprouted, does not begin to sow on the same arable land another time with such zeal. If after so many admonitions, which I unforgettably made, admonishing you in the previous time and which I did not stop during these seven weeks of fasting, proclaiming to you the Gospel of the grace of God, there was no benefit, then with what hopes will I speak now? “Oh, how many nights have you spent in vain in vigil. How many days have you been going here in vain! And, oh, if only it were in vain! For whoever, having succeeded in good deeds, then returned again to the previous custom, has not only lost the reward of the labors he endured, but is even worthy of the heaviest condemnation, because, having tasted God’s good word and been worthy of knowledge of the mysteries, he has lost all this, caught up in short-term pleasure. For it is said: the little one is worthy of mercy, but the strong one will be tormented more severely (Wis. 6:6). One evening, one enemy attack was destroyed and all this work was turned into nothing.” “Therefore, why should we be diligent in our work now? “And I would have remained silent (know this) if I had not been frightened by the example of Jeremiah, who, when he did not want to speak to the disobedient people, experienced what he himself described, namely, that he had fire in his insides and was weakened everywhere and could not bear (Jer. 20:9).” “Intemperate women, having forgotten the fear of God, despising the eternal fire, on the very day when, for the sake of the remembered resurrection, they should have sat in their houses and had in mind that day on which the heavens will open, and the Judge and the trumpets of God will appear to us from heaven, and the resurrection of the dead, and righteous judgment, and rewarding everyone according to his deeds - instead of talking about this, cleanse our hearts from the evil ones thoughts, to erase with tears past sins and prepare to meet Christ on the great day of His appearance - throwing off the yoke of Christ's service, throwing off the veils of decency, despising God, despising His Angels, shamelessly exposing himself to every man's gaze, letting down his hair, dragging his clothes behind him and playing with his feet together, with an insolent gaze, with a spilling laughing furiously, indulging in dancing, attracting to themselves all the lust of young people, forming faces outside the city at the tombs of the martyrs, they made these consecrated places a place of their own shame, desecrated the air with adulterous songs, desecrated the earth, trampling it with unclean feet while dancing; exposing themselves as a spectacle to a crowd of young men, becoming truly shameless, completely frenzied, leaving no opportunity to surpass them in fury.” “How can I keep silent about this? How will I pay, how much should I pay? For us, wine was the cause of the destruction of these souls - wine, which by the gift of God was given to the chaste for relief from weakness, but has now become for the intemperate a weapon of intemperance. Drunkenness, this voluntarily summoned demon, invades the soul through voluptuousness, drunkenness is the mother of vice, opposition to virtue, makes the courageous timid, the chaste lustful, does not know the truth, takes away prudence. Just as water is hostile to fire, so excess in wine extinguishes reason. Therefore, I was somewhat hesitant to speak against drunkenness, not because this evil is small and can be ignored, but because the word would not bring any benefit. If a drunk is not in control of his mind and is clouded, then the one who reprimands him is wasting words for the one who is not listening. Therefore, to whom would I speak, if the one who needs admonition does not hear what is said, but the chaste and sober person is clean from this passion and does not need the help of the word? For this St. Vasily presents a terrible picture of an intoxicated man. He becomes senseless like an animal, there is no connection in words, he is impudent and furious in anger, like a beast, in the desire to satisfy vile carnal passions he is more uncontrollable than any animal, his head does not rest on his shoulders, he waves his arms like a doll, his legs refuse to serve and he rolls half-dead in the mud, barely showing signs of life and in this state he is no longer like senseless cattle, but becomes lower than them. At the end of this sad picture of St. Basil says: “those who get drunk are worthy of mourning, because drunkards will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:10).” “Educated people who are proud of their high rank and fortune will perhaps say: these are the vices of the rude and ignorant crowd of people, and everything said does not apply to us. But let's see how much higher you stand than the rude and ignorant crowd when you indulge in the attraction of the same passions. St. Basil was not too lazy to describe your pleasures in the same way. “As soon as the day begins,” he says, “they decorate the places of their feasts with speckled carpets and colored curtains, show zeal and care in preparing drinking vessels, arrange cooling vessels, bowls and vials as if for show and for spectacle; as if the variety of vessels could hide satiety from them, and the exchange and transfer of cups could provide sufficient delay during drinking. At the same time, there are some princes of parties, chief cupbearers and founders of the feast, order is invented in disorder and in an unseemly matter - a device so that, just as squires attach importance to worldly authorities, so drunkenness, like a queen, is surrounded by servants and its shame is covered by excess zeal. Moreover, wreaths and flowers, fragrant ointments and incense, and thousands of invented extraneous amusements provide greater entertainment to those who are perishing. Then, as the feast continues, challenges begin to see who can drink more, competitions and feats between those seeking the honor of surpassing each other in drunkenness. And their legislator of these exploits is the devil, and the reward for victory is sin. For whoever pours more whole wine into himself receives victorious crowns from others. Truly glory is in their cold (Phil. 3:19). They compete with each other and take revenge on themselves. What word can follow the vileness of what is happening? Everything is full of foolishness, everything is full of confusion! The vanquished revel, the victors revel, and the servants laugh; hands refused to serve, lips do not accept, the womb is torn, but evil does not cease. The poor body, deprived of its natural strength, weakened and could not withstand the violence of excess.” “A pitiful sight for Christian eyes! The one who blooms with age, is full of bodily strength, distinguished in the military lists, the one lying down is carried home, he cannot stand upright and walk on his own feet. He who should be terrible to his enemies becomes a reason for the laughter of children in the marketplace. He was deposed without a sword, killed without enemies. An armed man in the prime of life has become a prey to wine, ready to suffer from his enemies whatever they please. Drunkenness - loss of reason, exhaustion of strength, untimely old age, short-term death. Drunken ones - what other than pagan idols? They have eyes and do not see; ears they have and do not hear (Ps. 113:13-14); arms relaxed, legs froze. Who intended this evil? Who is the culprit of these evils? Who dissolved this poison of fury for us? Human! You made a battle out of a feast. You throw away young men, led out by the arms, as if wounded, from the battlefield, killing the flower of their youth with wine. You invite him over as a friend for dinner, but throw him away dead, extinguishing the life in him with wine.” “When, in the opinion of others, they are satiated with wine, then they begin to drink and drink like cattle, as if from a spring that suddenly appeared, in which as many springs have opened as there are those reclining. For as the feast continued, a young man, courageous in the build of his shoulders, still not drunk, came to them, carrying a huge vial of chilled wine. Having pushed away their cupbearer, he stands in the middle and through curved tubes equally divides the intoxication of the feasting people. Here is a new measure of intemperance, so that evenly indulging in intemperance with each other, no one will surpass the other in drinking. For, dividing the pipes among themselves and each taking the one facing him, like bulls, as if from some reservoir, they drink without taking a breath, hastening to draw as much into the larynx as the cooling vessel gives them from above through the silver wine pipes. Inclining your gaze to your poor belly, measure the size of the vessel you are drinking. Look not at the vessel to see if you will empty it soon, but at your own belly, because it is already full.” Therefore, woe to those who rise in the morning and persecute strong drink, who wait for the evening and spend the day in rapture, because they no longer have time to look at the works of the Lord, and to think about the works of His hands. I will burn the wine. The heat produced by the wine, communicating with the flesh, becomes an ignition for the enemy's arrows. Wine drowns reason and intellect and arouses passions and voluptuousness like a swarm of bees. What chariot, drawn by young horses, rushes so disorderly, throwing off its driver? Any ship that is not steered by a pilot and is carried along the waves wherever it happens, isn’t it safer than a drunken one? After such troubles, men and women, having formed common faces together and betrayed their souls to the wine-loving demon, sting each other with the stings of passions. On both sides there are laughter, shameful songs, fornicating burning of the body, inciting to lust.” So, having shown the abyss into which the intemperate throw themselves, St. Vasily also indicates a means to return to the path of salvation. “Let fasting and drunkenness heal,” he says; psalm - shameful songs, let tears be the medicine of laughter. Instead of dancing, kneel, instead of clapping, beat your chest, and let smart clothes replace humility. And above all, may alms redeem you from sin. For the deliverance of a man is his own wealth (Proverbs 13:8): receive many unfortunates into the fellowship of prayer, so that the fabrication of vice may be forgiven you.”211 Analyzing the parable of the wicked householder, who, instead of distributing the excess of his goods to the poor, who have nothing in their barns or barns themselves, pronounced the sentence under his barns: I will destroy my barns (Luke 18:12), followed by a heavenly sentence about the separation of his soul from his body, St. Vasily asks: “Why was the field destroyed by a man who did not want to do anything good from this harvest? So that God's long-suffering will be revealed to the greater extent, when even to such an extent the goodness of God has been extended, because God rains on the righteous and on the unjust, and His sun shines on the evil and on the good (Matthew 5:45). But such goodness of God brings greater punishment on those who are evil. God sent rains to the land cultivated by covetous hands; God gave the sun to warm the seeds and multiply the fruits through the harvest... What did man add from himself? Evil disposition, hatred of humanity, stinginess. He repaid this to the Benefactor. He did not remember the common nature, did not think that excesses should be shared by the poor, did not pay attention to the commandment: break your bread to the hungry (Isa. 58:7). All the prophets, all the crying teachers were not heard by them; His granaries were broken, crowded with the abundance of what was put in them, and his stingy heart was not full. Constantly adding new things to the old and increasing the abundance with annual additions, he fell into this insoluble difficulty, out of covetousness he did not agree to pour out the old, and due to the multitude he could not find a place where to put the new. What will I do... He laments like the poor, and don’t we hear from him the same thing as from a person oppressed by poverty? What will I do? Where will I get food from? Where will I get the clothes from? The rich man says the same thing, his heart tormented by anxiety. What makes others happy is what makes the covetous dry; it does not make him happy that everything in his house is full; but the wealth flowing towards him and pouring over the edges of the storehouses hurts his soul with fear lest something should fall to strangers, and lest it turn into a source of some good for those in need. And it seems to me that the illness of his soul is similar to the illness of gluttonous people, who would rather tear themselves apart by overeating than share the leftovers with those in need.” Having further shown the covetous that the Lord did not endow him with many earthly blessings to fill only his womb, but chose him to be only a distributor of God’s gifts to the poor, he says: “instead of destroying old granaries and creating new ones to fill them with new gifts of God’s goodness, one should say: I will fill the souls of the hungry, I will open my granaries, I will call all those in need. I will imitate Joseph, preaching love for mankind; I will utter a generous word: all who have no bread, come to me; how from common sources everyone can partake of the goodness given by God, as much as anyone needs. Imitate the earth, man: bear fruit like it, so as not to turn out to be worse than an inanimate creature. She grew the fruit not for her own pleasure, but for your service. And if you show the fruit of charity, you will collect it for yourself, because the benefit of good deeds returns to those who give. Have you given to the hungry? And what you give becomes your property, returning to you with an increase. Just as a grain of grain, having fallen into the ground, turns into profit for the one who threw it away, so bread thrown down to the hungry one subsequently brings a hundredfold benefit. Therefore, let the goal of agriculture be for you the beginning of heavenly sowing, for it is said: sow to yourselves in righteousness (Hos. 10:12).” “Why are you worried? Why do you torment yourself, trying to enclose your wealth in clay and brick? Better is a good name than much wealth (Proverbs 22:1). And if you respect money, considering it an honor to have it, then look how much more valuable for fame it is to be called the father of a thousand children than to have thousands of coins in your wallet. You will leave the money here reluctantly, but you will bring the glory of your good deeds with you to the Lord, when before the common Judge a whole people will surround you and will call you their feeder, benefactor and will begin to attribute to you all the names of love for mankind. And you are stingy with expenses when you can achieve such fame! God will receive you, Angels will praise you, all people will please you, no matter how many there have been since the creation of the world. Eternal glory, the crown of righteousness, the kingdom of heaven will be your reward for the good management of this perishable property. But you don’t care about any of this, trying to take care of the present, you despise what you want. So assign wealth to various uses, providing splendor and glory as expenses for those in need. Let it be said about you: lavish, give to the poor, his righteousness endures forever (Ps. 111:9). Do not be expensive by delaying the sale until the need arises; Do not wait until there is a shortage of grain before opening your barns: for if you sell wheat stingily, you will be cursed by the people (Proverbs 11:26). Do not expect hunger for gold, nor general poverty for your own abundance. Do not deal with human misfortunes, do not turn God’s wrath into an opportunity to increase your money. Do not tear the wounds of those who are beaten with whips.” Having presented to the eyes of the covetous rich the terrible need of the poor and their despair from the hopelessness of extending their existence for a few more days, he shows them how cruel their hearts should be when they not only do not awaken in them a feeling of compassion for the misfortunes of their fellow man, but also think to extract the most benefits for themselves from the misfortune of the suffering. For those who try to justify their inhuman covetousness with the hope of a long life and the need to live decently to their rank and condition, he points to the Gospel rich man, who, at the sight of only the ripening ears of corn in the field, says to his soul: eat, drink, be merry, without thinking about the judgment of God in heaven, which took place on him on the very first night after such a decision. Therefore, to those who suffer from the same disease, but over whom, due to the long-suffering of God, the judgment of God has not yet been completed, St. Vasily says: “Everywhere before you will be the example of a condemned rich man who, guarding the present, worrying about the expected and not knowing for sure whether he will live tomorrow, is already sinning today and tomorrow. The petitioner had not yet arrived, but he had already shown his cruelty; He has not yet gathered the fruits, but has already earned condemnation for covetousness. The earth was preparing a rich feast for him, showing in advance a bountiful harvest in the fields, opening many grapes on the vines, offering an olive tree that bores fruit, promising all kinds of pleasure in the fruits of the trees; but he was inhospitable and barren. He hasn’t collected it yet and is jealous of those already in need. How many dangers are there before harvesting the fruit? And hail sometimes beats, and the heat stole almost from the hands, and water poured out of the clouds at the wrong time, spoiling the fruits. Why don’t you pray to the Lord to complete the mercy, but first make yourself unworthy to accept what you already have in mind? You speak to yourself in secret, but your words are evaluated in heaven. That’s why the answer comes to you from there. What does the rich man say? For the soul, there are many blessings lying ahead; eat, drink, have fun every day. What madness! If you had the soul of a pig, would you please it with anything other than this? You are so bestial, so ignorant of the blessings of the soul, that you offer the soul fleshly food! What the womb receives, you assign to the soul. If there is virtue in the soul, if it is filled with good deeds, if it is close to God, then it has many good things and let it rejoice in wonderful spiritual joy. But since you think earthly, your belly is God, you have become all carnal, enslaved to passions; then listen to the name appropriate for you, which was given to you not by any other person, but by the Lord himself: crazy! This night they will take your soul from You: but what have you prepared for all things, for whom will they be? Such ridicule of recklessness is more painful than eternal punishment! “The one who will soon be kidnapped, what is he doing? I will destroy my barns and build greater ones. You are doing great, I would tell him, because the treasuries of untruth are worth destroying. Destroy with your own hands what you have built poorly; break the grain bins from which no one has ever left with consolation. Destroy the entire building that covetousness guards; break the roofs, dismantle the walls, open the moldy wheat to the sun, free the imprisoned wealth from custody, open the dark refuges of mammon for everyone to see.” “I will destroy my barns and build great ones. And if you fill them too, what will you come up with? Will you really destroy again and build again? But what is crazier than this - to work endlessly, carefully create and diligently destroy? If you want, you have granaries - these are the houses of the poor. Hide for yourself treasure in heaven (Matthew 6:20). What is there is not eaten by a worm, nor by an aphid, nor by robbers.” “But then I will give to those in need when I fill the second granaries. You have assigned yourself long years of life. Be careful that no hasty deadline awaits you. This promise shows not kindness, but deceit; because you promise not in order to give later, but in order to refuse this time. What hinders almsgiving today? Isn't there a poor person? Aren't the granaries full? Is the reward not ready? Is the commandment not clear? But the hungry man languishes; the naked becomes numb; the debtor is oppressed: but you put off giving alms until tomorrow! Listen to Solomon: do not say: when you go away, return, and in the morning I will give you: do not worry about what the coming day will produce (Proverbs 3:28)” 212. In a conversation with those who are enriched, St. Vasily shows what insignificant excuses rich people come up with to justify themselves when they refuse to help the poor. There is no need that they invent, but rather serves to incriminate them, showing that they spend thousands on such needs, which every person who can reasonably discuss his actions can easily do without. “Listen to what their orders are: this part, they say, will go into use, and this part will be put aside in reserve; and let the part assigned to cover needs exceed the limits of necessity: this will serve for household expenses, and this will be separated to show itself to people; This will make for pomp on the road, and this will make you live a bright and noble life while sitting at home. And I can only marvel at such an invention of excess. They have thousands of chariots; some carry all sorts of junk, others are covered with copper and silver and they themselves ride on. They have many horses and genealogies are kept for them as people, respecting the nobility of their fathers: some carry these sensualists around the city, others participate in the hunt with them, others are ridden for the road. The bridles, girths, collars are all silver, all sprinkled with gold; scarlet blankets adorn the horses as grooms. They have many mules, divided according to color; Their charioteers replace each other, some in front, others behind. They have an innumerable number of other household servants, so that they can become all kinds of pomp, stewards, housekeepers, cultivators, trained in every craft, both necessary and invented for pleasure and luxury; cooks, bakers, cupbearers, hunters, sculptors, painters, founders of pleasures of all kinds. They have herds of camels, sometimes carrying loads, sometimes grazing, herds of horses, herds of bulls, sheep and pigs; they have their shepherds with them; They have their own land, sufficient for food and also increasing their wealth with the income received from it. They have baths in the city, baths in the villages. The houses shine with marbles of all kinds, one of Phrygian stone, another of Lacedaemonian or Thessalian slab; and some houses are warm in winter, others are cool in summer, the floors are dotted with multi-colored stones, the ceilings are gilded; Where there is no marble on the walls, it is decorated with picturesque flowers.” But if such a wasteful husband gets a wife who loves luxury and panache, then the expense doubles. “She inflames whims, and voluptuousness increases and irritates vain situations,” inventing some kind of precious stones, pearls, emeralds, yachts, using gold, sometimes forged, sometimes woven, and intensifying the disease with all sorts of nonsense: because not only women do this at times, but they spend days and nights worrying about it. And thousands of some caresses, catering to their wishes, bring dyers, silversmiths, murovars, weavers, and printmakers. They don’t let her husband breathe for a minute, tormenting him with her incessant orders. No wealth will be available to satisfy women’s desires, even if it flows in rivers, when they want to have myrrh brought from the barbarians, like oil from the market, sea flowers, shells, sea feathers, and in greater quantities than sheep’s wool. And gold, serving as a setting for precious stones, forms a decoration on their foreheads, then on their necks, then in their belts, or binds their arms and legs. For gold-loving women are pleased to wear shackles on their hands, as long as they are bound by gold. Therefore, when should a man who serves women’s wishes take care of the soul?! Just as fragile ships sink from storms and bad weather, so the weak souls of their cohabitants perish from the evil inclinations of wives. And wealth, squandered on so many items by both husband and wife, who surpass each other in inventing vain expenses, naturally no longer has any opportunity to pass on to strangers. If you hear: sell your property and give to the poor in order to have a path to eternal bliss: you go away mourning. If they say: give the money to luxurious women, give it to stonemasons, carpenters, mosaics, painters, you rejoice as one who acquires something more precious than money.” Turning the gaze of the selfish and hard-hearted to the poor, the rich to the ruins of former luxurious houses, in order to show the vanity of their present worries and, at the same time, the destruction of their souls, St. Vasily says: “Don’t you see these walls, destroyed by time and the remains of which, like some kind of mounds, rise throughout the city? When they were erected, how many poor people were there in the city, whom the rich people of that time despised while caring for these buildings? Where are these magnificent buildings? Where are those who excited competition with such splendor? Isn’t everything turned into a heap and destroyed, like what children sculpt out of sand for fun? Isn’t the builder in hell repenting that he cared about vain things? Try to have a great soul; and the walls, whether small or large, satisfy the same need. When I accidentally enter the house of a stupid and inappropriately rich man and see that the house is covered with all kinds of flowers, then I find out that this man has no other jewelry than visible ones, that he decorates soulless things, but his soul is not decorated. Tell me to what most profitable use are silver beds and silver tables, beds and ivory seats, while for their sake wealth does not pass to the poor, although they stand in thousands at the doors and announce them with every plaintive voice. But the rich, in the very multitude of the poor, try to find a reason for themselves to evade benefits to them. They say: there are too many poor people and it is impossible to help everyone; and therefore pass without the attention of everyone, without providing benefits to anyone. St. Basil says this: your tongue confirms this with an oath, but your hand denounces otherwise; she silently reveals your lies, shining with an expensive stone in her ring. One ring of yours can free how many people from debt? how much to fix falling houses? One chest of clothes of yours can clothe an entire people, numb from the cold. But you bitterly send the poor man away with nothing, not fearing righteous reward from the Judge: you have not had mercy and will not have mercy; You did not open the house and you will not be admitted into the kingdom; you did not give bread and you will not receive eternal life.” Having further shown that the covetous not only torments himself with the insatiability of his desires, with all the abundance of earthly goods, being stung by the constant sorrow that he has not yet achieved what one or two rich people who exceed him have, not only becomes unable to ascend to God with a feeling of gratitude for the benefits received and to express his gratitude to Him by helping his fellow believers, deprived of even the necessary for existence, but the most his covetousness leads him to many lies and crimes. “Nothing,” says St. Vasily - does not resist the power of wealth, everyone bows before his autocracy, everyone trembles at his dominion; because each of the offended people thinks more about how not to suffer some kind of evil, rather than about how to take revenge for what they have suffered. The rich man brings a pair of oxen, plows, sows, and reaps on land that does not belong to him. If you contradict, you will get blows. If you complain: they accuse you of insulting you, they will condemn you and you will go to prison; slanderers are ready who will bring you to the danger of losing your life. You will be glad to give something else, just to be freed from litigation.” “I would like you to rest a little from the deeds of unrighteousness, to give your mind time to think about the end to which care about this tends. You have such and such a number of acres of cultivated land and another the same number of land overgrown with forests, mountains, plains, ravines, rivers, meadows. What after this? Are not only three cubits of earth waiting for you? Wouldn't the weight of a few stones be enough to protect pitiful flesh? Why are you working? Why are you acting unlawfully? Why do you gather with your own hands what is barren? And, oh, if only it were fruitless, and not food for eternal fire! Will you ever sober up from this rapture? Will you have common sense? Will you come to your senses? Will you imagine the judgment seat of Christ before your eyes? How will you be justified when the offended stand around you and cry out to the righteous Judge against you? What kind of intercessors will you hire for yourself? What witnesses will you present? How can you convince the Judge, who is not susceptible to any deception? There are no flourishes, no convincing eloquence that could hide the truth before the Judge. Neither flatterers, nor money, nor the greatness of dignity accompany you there. You will appear alone without friends, alone without helpers, not defended, not justified, ashamed, sad, despondent, abandoned by everyone, not daring to open your mouth. Wherever you turn your gaze, everywhere you will see clear images of evil deeds: here the tears of an orphan, there the lamentations of a widow, and on the other hand the poor servants you beat up, whom you tormented, the neighbors you irritated. Everything will rise up against you, the evil host of your evil deeds will surround you. For, just as a shadow follows a body, so sins follow the soul, clearly depicting its deeds. Therefore, there is no place for denial, but the most shameless lips are stopped; because everyone’s deeds testify to themselves, not by uttering a voice, but by appearing as they were done by us. How can I depict this horror before your eyes? If you only listen to me, if only you take this to heart: then remember that day on which the wrath of God is revealed from heaven (Rom. 1:48), remember the glorious coming of Christ, when those who have created good will arise for the resurrection of life, and those who have created evil will rise for the resurrection of judgment (John 5:29). Then eternal shame will befall sinners and jealousy will burn away those who want to resist (Heb. 10:27). Let this grieve you, but do not let the commandment grieve you. How can I influence you? What should I tell you? Don't you really want a kingdom? Aren't you afraid of Gehenna? Where can you find healing for your soul? If the terrible does not frighten, the joyful does not excite, then I speak to the heart of stone.” Pointing out the nature of gold and other precious stones, he explains how inglorious it is for people, rational beings, to find glory for themselves in the brilliance of gold or stones, which do not in the least change their personal merits and never bring true benefits, and often serve as a reason for many vices and increased suffering not only in the private life of a person, but also in entire societies and nations. “What a lover of clothes,” says St. Vasily, could he add at least one day to his life? Has death spared anyone for the sake of wealth? Has anyone escaped illness for the sake of money? How long will gold be a snare for souls, a fishing rod for death, a bait for sin? How long can wealth serve as a pretext for wars, forging weapons, refining swords? For his sake, his relatives do not know natural ties, the brothers look at each other with murder. For the sake of wealth, the desert harbors murderers, the sea harbors robbers, and cities harbor sneakers. Who is the father of lies? Who is the culprit behind false signatures? Who gave birth to perjury? Isn't it wealth? Is it not striving for wealth? What's happening to you people? Who turned your property into a means to catch you? Property has been given to us as an aid to life, and not as a path to evil, for the redemption of the soul, and not as a reason for destruction.” The covetous, having no other plausible excuse to justify their untruths and cruelty towards the poor, think to hide behind their children from shame and well-deserved condemnation. They say: we have children, we need to leave them a fortune so that they can live decently to their rank and their position in the world. “This,” says St. Vasily, is a plausible excuse for covetousness; You refer to children, but satisfy your own heart. Do not blame the innocent, he has his own Lord, his own Housebuilder; from another he received life, from Him he expects the means of life. Aren't the Gospels written for married people? If you want to be perfect, sell what you have and give to the poor (Matthew 19:21). Is it possible that when you asked the Lord for good fortune, when you prayed to be the father of children, you added this in your prayers: give me children to obey Your commandments; give me children so as not to reach the kingdom of heaven? Who will be the guarantor for the will of the son, that he will use this as he should? Wealth has led many to debauchery. Don't you hear what Ecclesiastes says: I saw a serious illness, wealth was kept from the acquisitive for his harm (Eccl. 5:12); also: I leave it to a man who will follow me: and who knows whether he will be wise or foolish (Eccl. 2:18-19)? So, be careful that you, having collected wealth with much labor, do not prepare for others the convenience of sins and then suffer double punishment - both for the fact that you yourself did a lie and for the fact that you provided someone else with the means to do so. Isn't your soul closer to all children? Isn't it closer to you than everything else? Give her the best part of the inheritance first, provide her with rich means for eternal life, and then distribute the estate to the children. Children, without inheriting anything from their parents, often made their own homes; but who will take pity on a soul if it is abandoned by you? This was said to the fathers. But what will childless wealth collectors say in their defense? “I don’t sell my property,” says one, “I don’t give to the poor because of the necessary needs in life. “Therefore,” St. answers him. Vasily, the Lord is not your Teacher, it is not the Gospel that serves as the rule for your life. But you give yourself laws. Look at the danger you are running into by reasoning like this! If the Lord has prescribed this to us as necessary, but you reject it as impossible, then you are affirming nothing else, but that you are more intelligent than the Lawgiver.” The covetous, not completely rejecting the obligation of the Divine law for himself, but wanting to combine the fulfillment of God's will with the satisfaction of all his whims and passions, says: having enjoyed wealth throughout my entire life, after death I will make the poor heirs of my estate, declaring them in writing and in wills the owners of all mine. “When you are no longer,” the saint answers the reasoning. Vasily, - in a circle of people, then you will become philanthropic. When I see you dead, then I will call you a brotherly lover. Great gratitude to you for your generosity, that, lying in the tomb and having been released into the ground, you became generous in expenses and generous! Tell me, for what time will you demand a reward? Is it during the time of life, or during the time of death? But while you were alive, you spent your life on pleasures, immersed yourself in luxury; you couldn’t bear to look at the poor; What kind of activity does the deceased have? To what reward are his actions entitled? Show your deeds and demand retribution. Nobody trades when the trading period is over; no one is crowned if he came after the end of the struggle; no one shows his courage after battle. Therefore, as is obvious, it is impossible to become pious even after life. Do you promise to do charity in ink and writing? And who will tell you the time of departure? Who can guarantee what your death will be? How many people were snatched from life in violent fits, so that they could not utter a single word from suffering? How the fever has made many without control of their minds! Why are you waiting for a time when, as often happens, you will not be the master of your thoughts? It’s late at night, there’s a serious illness, and there’s no helper; he who has plans for an inheritance is ready to arrange everything in his favor and will make your intentions unfulfillable. Then, having looked here and there, and seeing the emptiness surrounding you, you will finally feel your recklessness; Then you will sigh about your foolishness, that you have put off fulfilling the commandment until such a time, when your tongue weakens and your trembling hand is shaking from the death tremors, and you cannot declare your will either in words or in writing.” But some, even in wills in favor of the poor, are guided not by love for God and neighbors, but by a feeling of dislike for their relatives, who would have the right to their property. Such St. Vasily says: “during your life, you preferred the commandments to yourself, but after death and destruction you prefer the commandments to your enemies; - you say, so that so and so doesn’t get it, let the Lord take it. What can we call this - vengeance on enemies or love for neighbors? Read your will. I would like to live a little longer and enjoy my property. – Consequently, gratitude is due to death, and not to you: if you were immortal, you would not remember the commandments. Do not be flattered, God is not mocked (Gal. 6:7). The dead are not brought to the altar, bring a living sacrifice. Whoever brings excess is not accepted; but you, what remains in excess after a whole life, bring it to the Benefactor. If you don’t dare treat famous people with the leftovers of a meal, then how dare you appease God with the leftovers?” 213 In conclusion, he advises the rich, on the basis of their own and strong love for wealth, not to leave anything here on earth, but to take everything with them, for which the most convenient opportunity is presented by the hands of the poor, sick and crippled. These two preceding words of St. Vasily’s approach to covetous people not only brought the desired fruit in relation to his almshouse, and in general to all the poor, but also did not diminish the love of those exposed for the herald of saving truth. At the beginning of his conversation about what should not be attached to everyday things, St. Vasily says: “turning the caustic sting of the word on you every time, I thought, beloved, that I would seem to you somewhat annoying, because I was revealing some kind of excessive courage, indecent for a person who had come and was not spared from similar accusations: but you were aroused by reproofs to goodwill, and the wounds inflicted by my tongue turned into a reason to ignite with greater love. And this is not surprising, because you are wise in spiritual things. Reprove the wise, and he will love you (Proverbs 9:8), Solomon says somewhere in his writings. Therefore, now, brethren, I begin the same exhortation, wishing, no matter how it may be, to lead you away from the snares of the devil.” It further shows that the devil wages a strong and constant battle with us every day. He, possessing mighty power, could, of course, immediately plunge all people into the extreme degree of corruption and unbelief, and at the same time subject everyone to eternal condemnation, in order to only show God, against whom he himself rebelled, his strength and his malice, although without improving his personal fate. But the Lord, out of His infinite mercy towards the human race, bound him himself with insoluble bonds so that he could not do violence to a single person if a person, out of love for the Lord, resists his temptations. That is why the devil, with all his malice, can only harm a person with various tricks, but always, like a robber hiding along the way, he tries to remain unnoticed so that the fallen cannot notice his machinations, but considers his fall a natural consequence of his own carelessness and inattention. The goal of the enemy is that a person, without noticing his machinations, constantly falls and breaks until he inflicts a mortal wound on himself. “Therefore,” says St. Vasily, - if you want to safely walk the path of life ahead, present to Christ both soul and body free from shame, have ulcers on yourself (testifying to our brave and persistent struggle with the enemy), and receive victorious crowns: then we must turn our waking spiritual eyes everywhere, look at everything pleasant with suspicion, run past it without hesitation and not cling to anything in thought - even if it seems that the gold lies scattered in heaps and is ready to go into the hands of those who wish; for it is said: if wealth flows, do not apply your heart (Ps. 61:11), even if the earth produces pleasures of every kind and offers valuable shelters: our life is in heaven, from there we wait for Christ as the Savior (Phil. 3:20); at least there would be dancing, feasts, drunkenness, dinners resounding with pipes; for it is said: vanity of vanities, all vanity (Eccl. 1, 2); although: one would imagine the beauty of the bodies in which vicious souls live; for the wise one says: Flee from the face of the woman, as from the face of the serpent (Sir. 21:2; Sir. 25:18); - even if domination and autocracy were offered, crowds of bodyguards or flatterers, even a high and bright throne, subordinating peoples and cities to us into voluntary slavery; For all flesh is like grass, and all the glory of man is like the flower of grass, the grass is made, and its flower has fallen away (1Pt. 1:24). Under all this, so pleasant, sits the common enemy, waiting to see if we will turn aside from the right path, deceived by what is visible, and if we will not deviate towards his ambush. And it is very dangerous if we ever approach this carelessly and not considering the pleasantness of pleasure harmful, we swallow in the first taste the hidden trap of deceit, and then through it, willy-nilly or unwillingly, we become attached to such things and are imperceptibly carried away by voluptuousness to the terrible crossroads of this robber, that is, into death.” Having shown that all earthly blessings, no matter what they are and no matter what they consist of, are not worth attaching to them in the heart, simply because they sometimes leave us suddenly due to some unfavorable circumstances and we leave them in captivity at death, even if we did not want to be separated from them, taking with us only later repentance about the unrighteous acquisition of them or the use of them that is inconsistent with the law of God. - Inspires to “take as much care as possible for the soul and use all measures to keep it pure, and to pay little attention to the flesh, whether it is fading with hunger, or struggling with cold and heat, or suffering from illness, or suffering violence from someone, calling out in every sorrow and speaking in the words of the Apostle: even if our outer man decays, yet the inner man is renewed all the days (2 Cor. 4:16). And seeing the approach of dangers that threaten life, in this case we will not be fearful, but with hope we will say to ourselves: we know that if our earthly church of the body is destroyed, the creation of God, the imams, the church not made by hands, will be eternal in heaven (Cor. 5: 1). - If someone wants to spare the body, as the only asset necessary for the soul and contributing to it in earthly life, then not much will be taken care of its needs, just to support it and, through moderate care, keep it healthy to serve the soul, and not give it the will to jump from satiety. If he sees that it is inflamed by a desire for more and beyond the bounds of what is useful, he will cry out to him, legitimizing him with the word of Paul: “We have brought nothing into this world, as if we could endure what we can; but if we have food and clothing with these, we will be satisfied (1 Tim. 6:7-8). By constantly repeating and calling upon the body, we will make it submissive and always easy for the heavenly procession; it would be better to say: we will acquire in it a collaborator in the labors ahead.” Having made this kind of suggestion, he convinces those with great wealth to give the excess to the poor, in order to thereby preserve it for eternity. Pointing out at the same time how they abuse their property, he expresses fear that they will not be subjected to much greater punishment than that suffered by the rich man, who lived lightly all his days, but did not pay any attention to Lazarus lying at his gate. “I’m afraid,” says St. Vasily, - remembering the rich man who languished in hell, who will strike us with words even more bitter than these, because we, as you yourself know, surpass this rich man in guile. It is not because we are completely stingy with wealth that we pass by the lying brothers; not because we protect the property for children or other relatives, we close our ears when they ask us: on the contrary, we squander it on the worst and turn our generosity to encourage the vice of people devoted to it. Many people have so many husbands and wives at their table! Some amuse the giver of the feast with shameful words; others, with immodest glances and body movements, ignite the fire of intemperance; some try to make the caller laugh with caustic jokes at each other, while others deceive him with false praise. And they do not receive the only benefit that they are lavishly treated, but they leave with their hands full of all sorts of gifts and learn through us that it is much more useful for them to indulge in such things and practice in this, and not in virtues! And if a beggar stands in front of us, who can barely speak from the cold: we turn away from the one who is of the same nature with us, we abhor him, we hastily run away, as if fearing that if we walk more slowly, we will become participants in the same disaster. And if he, ashamed of his misfortune, lowers his gaze to the ground: we say that he trades in hypocrisy. If someone forced by severe hunger looks at us boldly: again we call him shameless and insolent. If, by chance, he is covered with hard clothing that someone gave him: we drive him away from us as if he were insatiable and we swear that his poverty is feigned. And if it is covered with rotten rags: we are again driven away for the stench, and although he adds the name of the Creator to his requests, although he constantly conjures that we too should be subjected to similar suffering, he cannot in any way change our merciless decision. For this reason I am afraid of the gravest fire of Gehenna in comparison with that rich man” 214. Basil the Great, letter 217. Gregory the Theologian, Sl. 18, p. 140. Gregory the Theologian, Sl. 43, p. 100. Gregory the Theologian, Sl. 43, pp. 104–105. Gregory of Nyssa against Eunomius, book. 1. Socrates, 4, 26. Theodoret 5, 29. Gregory the Theologian, Sl. 43, p. 106. Gregory the Theologian, Sl. 43, p. 103. Gregory of Nyssa against Eunomian, book. 1. Theodoret 4, 19. Gregory the Theologian, Sl. 43, p. 109. Ephraim the Syrian, Eulogy to Basil the Great. Theodoret 4, 26. Gregory the Theologian, Sl. 43, p. 109. Basil the Great, letter 100. His letter 107, 271, 272, 273. Gregory the Theologian, Sl. 43, pp. 111, 112. Basil the Great, letter 70, 71, 72. Basil the Great, letter 94. Basil the Great, letter 93. Gregory the Theologian, Sl. 43, pp. 119–121. Basil the Great, letter 90 and 145. Basil the Great, letter 137, 138. Basil the Great, volume 4, conversation 14. Basil the Great, volume 4. Sl. 6. Basil the Great, volume 4. Sl. 7. Basil the Great, volume 4, Homily 21.